1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle wash systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a vehicle wash system for salt trucks, such as salt trucks used by governmental transportation departments for dispensing salt onto roadways.
1. Description of the Prior Art
Salt trucks, as used by various state and local departments of transportation, are particularly susceptible to corrosion as a result of the vehicles carrying and dispersing salt. For this reason, the average service life of a highway salt truck is two to three years. If properly washed after each use, the service life of these quarter million dollar vehicles can be extended to approximately seven to eight years.
Because of the nature and shape of salt trucks, proper cleaning has in the past been costly in terms of time, man power, and water use. Various areas of the truck require specific cleaning to remove the salt. These areas include, but are not limited to, the front or leading side of the bed, the back of the cab, the inside of the bed, the underside of the bed, the chassis beneath the bed, the back of the bed and the salt spreader.
There are many types of vehicle wash systems currently known in the art. The tunnel-type car wash system which uses brushes or strips of material to rub against the vehicle would be impractical because of the unique shape of the salt truck. A typical brushless system has jets arrayed on a frame that spray the vehicle passing through it. These systems use a great deal of water and do not reach all necessary portions of the salt truck to clean the truck and prevent corrosion. One type of brushless system uses a number of nozzles directed towards the vehicle. However, all the nozzles are activated at the same time, which requires multiple high pressure pumps, adding significant cost to the system, to give adequate pressure to all the nozzles to properly clean the vehicle. Another type of brushless system uses a gantry-type washing apparatus adapted to move linearly along the length of a vehicle. The entire line of nozzles moves together and cannot be moved independently. This system, however, must be placed in position around the vehicle and the vehicle stopped while cleaning, thus increasing the time necessary to clean the vehicle. Additionally, the nozzle arrangement does not allow for the cleaning of all the necessary portions of a salt truck. The moving nozzles are a mechanical complication that will require additional parts and service above that of a fixed nozzle system. Since automated systems inadequately clean salt trucks, the only known method that is adequate involves manual cleaning. Manual cleaning, however, is time consuming and highly labor intensive.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to create a truck wash system that uses a minimum amount of water while still delivering full pressure spray through the nozzles. It is a further object of the present invention to create a truck wash system where the location of the vehicle in the system determines which nozzles are activated so specific areas of the truck will be washed at a time until the entire vehicle is cleaned. It is a further object of the invention to create a truck wash system that may be used to thoroughly clean salt trucks and other vehicle types.